Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.0

Get Carter Blu-ray Movie Review

Get Caine

Reviewed by Michael Reuben April 22, 2014

A year after the British gangster classic Get Carter was released, a second adaptation of Ted Lewis' novel, Jack's Return Home, appeared on American screens under the title Hit Man. Starring Bernie Casey and Pam Grier, the film was part of the blaxploitation wave that followed the success of Shaft. It would be more than a quarter century before the novel was again adapted for the screen, after Warner acquired the original Get Carter along with much of MGM's library. The new film borrowed the title Get Carter from the British original and was created as a vehicle for Sylvester Stallone. Though remarkably faithful to the spirit of Lewis' novel, the film bombed.

In retrospect, the biggest mistake that Warner and its producing partners made with Get Carter was to bill it as a "remake" of the Michael Caine/Mike Hodges original. On its own terms, it isn't a terrible film, but it can only suffer by comparison. Screenwriter David McKenna (American History X) effectively updated the criminal enterprises and situations in Lewis' story, particularly in light of the internet's impact (those who know the story will understand what I mean), and he made intelligent choices about which U.S. cities to substitute for London and Newcastle. With the growing globalization of both trade and cinema, the notion of a "bad" brother's return home to avenge his "good" brother's death could be set almost anywhere. But by retaining the name "Jack Carter", keeping the now-familiar Roy Budd theme music and, perhaps worst of all, casting Michael Caine in what was supposed to be a cameo role—which then got expanded when preview audiences wanted to see more of him (and why not? he's Michael Caine)—the makers of the new Get Carter set themselves an impossible task. There was no way they could match the original film's astringent sting. They weren't even trying. By comparison to Caine's Carter, Stallone would always look like a softie.

As in the original film, Jack Carter (Stallone) is an enforcer, but now he works for a major Las Vegas gambler and bookie named Fletcher (singular), who is never seen but is voiced by an uncredited Tom Sizemore. Jack calls himself a "financial adjuster", which is to say he collects unpaid debts. He is secretly involved with Fletcher's girlfriend, Audrey (Gretchen Mol, also uncredited).

When Jack learns that his brother, Ritchie, has died in a drunk driving accident, he returns home to Seattle for the funeral, where no one is happy to see him. Ritchie's widow, Gloria (Miranda Richardson), asks where he's been all these years. His teenage niece, Doreen (Rachel Leigh Cook), calls him a photo on the mantlepiece. And Ritchie's former boss, Cliff Brumby (Caine), for whom Ritchie ran a local bar, tells Jack that he really didn't know his brother at all. Among other things, Ritchie was having an affair with a mysterious woman, Geraldine (Rhona Mitra), whom Jack spots at the funeral.

Jack's Vegas colleague, McCarty (John C. McGinley), keeps calling him to insist that he return. Eventually McCarty shows up with additional muscle in tow, but Jack won't leave until he's satisfied his suspicions about what happened to Ritchie, who, Doreen insists, would never drink and drive. Jack's inquiries lead him to an old-time rival, Cyrus Paice (Mickey Rourke), who has reinvented himself as an internet porn king, and also to a newly minted computer millionaire, Jeremy Kinnear (Alan Cumming). But figuring out how they all connect, and who actually killed Ritchie, requires that Carter do what he does best, which is to leave a trail of destruction until someone talks.

Director Stephen Kay (The Last Time I Committed Suicide) stages some effective action scenes, including the requisite car chases and an extended fight between Rourke and Stallone that takes full advantage of their respective boxing skills. Technically, this Get Carter is entirely proficient, but it's also generic. Stallone's Jack Carter turns out to have a soft center of regret buried under layers of beef cake and emotional scar tissue, and it emerges in his scenes with his niece, to whom he tries to give genuine advice and support (whereas Michael Caine's Carter just handed her money). As the film proceeds toward its resolution, you can hear the telltale drip of accumulating sentiment that, even with the reshot ending, brands this version of Get Carter as a sweet soft drink rather than the straight shot of hard liquor that Caine and Hodges poured for audiences in 1971.

Get Carter Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Get Carter was shot by Oscar-winning cinematographer Mauro Fiore (Avatar), who was known for his vivid, high-contrast photography on film before switching over to digital. Get Carter reflects that style, which has been well reproduced on Warner's 1080p, AVC-encoded Blu-ray. Except for brief flashback sequences, where the film has been deliberately "distressed", the image is sharp, clean and detailed. Portions of the film, such as the early scenes in Vegas and shots inside Cyrus Paice's domain, feature bright, saturated colors that pop off the screen, whereas most of the Seattle scenes are muted to reflect that city's typically rainy climate. (According to the director's commentary, the production battled weather on a daily basis.) The Blu-ray captures the film's full spectrum of colors without bleeding, banding or other distortion. Blacks are solid, and contrast is never overstated.

The film's fine grain pattern appears to be undisturbed by untoward electronic manipulation. Warner has used a BD-25, causing the average bitrate to fall at the low end of the studio's typical range, at 20.94 Mbps. I kept watching for mosquito noise or compression-related artifacts, but none appeared.

Get Carter Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The film's original 5.1 soundtrack has been reproduced in lossless DTS-HD MA. As one might expect from a Sylvester Stallone action film, it's an aggressive and immersive mix with strong use of the surround speakers in major sequences like car chases and the extended fight between Stallone and Rourke. A scene with Alan Cumming's Kinnear on a luxury golf course has a nicely subtle sense of the environment, and locales like Cyrus' clubs and even Brumby's bar are filled with ambient noise appropriate to their surroundings. Dialogue is always clear, even from Stallone, whose diction isn't always as disciplined as it should be. The original score by Tyler Bates (300) cannily incorporates the Roy Budd theme from the 1971 film without overusing it, and the soundtrack also includes contemporary songs by Moby, Soma Sonic and others to create a contemporary feel. Since the film happens to be set at Christmas, a number of familiar carols are included in "updated" arrangements.

Get Carter Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The extras have been ported over from Warner's 2001 DVD of Get Carter, although the cover art of that release indicates that it included a second trailer.

• Commentary with Director Stephen Kay: Kay provides a relaxed, thoughtful commentary, with frequent pauses, alternately talking about working with Stallone, Caine and Rourke and discussing various technical challenges. He has relatively little to say about the 1971 original, which suggests that he was trying to make something new, even if that wasn't the intent of the producers.



• Deleted Scenes (480i; 1.85:1, non-enhanced; 8:10): A "play all" function is included. The last scene, entitled "Original Ending", has to be watched in conjunction with the director's commentary, which explains that other parts of the finished film were omitted in the original cut. (I cannot be more specific without major spoilers.)
• Let Me Take You Out
• I Thought You Were 17
• Droopers
• Mo'Cops
• Where You Going?
• The Long Walk
• Original Ending



• Theatrical Trailer (480i; 1.85:1, non-enhanced).

Get Carter Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

If you can put aside the original Get Carter, Stallone's film is a reasonably entertaining but minor entry in his filmography. The best scenes in it are those with Caine and with Rachel Leigh Cook, each of whom brings out emotional shadings in Stallone that we don't often see. If someone had been willing to risk letting Stallone explore a new character with those actors in an original creation rather than a remake that never stood a chance, they might have had something. Recommended only for the curious.